NorthWet

The 3AT "vacuum" hoses are probably: 1) The vacuum line to the vacuum modulator (kickdown), which runs down the passenger side of the transmission and should be connected to intake vacuum, and 2) most likely the tranny's breather tube, coming off of the top of the driver's side tranny case and just forming a downward facing loop.

Even if the cams are different, they are NOT different enough to make the car run significantly different. Before I dug into the cams, I would check all of the usual suspects: Rockers, cam timing (especially that 180 degrees between L/R side thing...), ignition timing, and spark plug wires. Check the spark plug wires even if they are aonly a couple of months old; you maybe/probably moved/removed them to remove the cam carrier, and they might have gotten swapped around or damaged just from being moved.

The "hatchback" is a 2-door body with a hatch at the back; body has slightly curved edges/corners. The wagon is a 4-door with a wagon hatch at the back, and the body has rather sharp edges/corners. The body style matters, as the engines are different series/designs. The hatchback should have the EA81 OHV engine, which is carbureted and has the distributor on the front of the engine, while the wagon/sedan has the EA82 OHC engine, which is probably SPFI and has the distributor on the back of the driver's side (USA) cam carrier. Both engines are 1.8 liter. The EA82 SPFI engine, although not a powerhouse, is perfectly adequate when running right. I just cruised over the Cascades this weekend doing 70-75 MPH most of the way... and mine is an automatic tranmission.

As Brian wrote, it would help. but it is not necessary, unless the gaskets are showing signs of damage, like delamination or leakage (burn marks).

Unless the turbo is an automatic... and the splined-shaft sizes are different on the the turbos.

Turbo failure can occur with an after-turbo leak... if the turbo has no wastegate and was "sized" to be controlled by back pressure (e.g. - Corvair). A pre-turbo leak can make a HUGE difference... one of mine has the typical cracked flange at the turbo and will not build positive pressure until 3K+ and never developes significant boost. (Would be fixed except for "frozen" turbo mounting bolts... ARGG!!) And some tail piece should be fitted to the turbo outlet to avoid/control turbulence and chaotic flow (and its attendant back pressure). Turbos operate with supersonic and transonic flows, and "normal" concepts of air flow do not apply very well.

At a propeller's designed speed, air is approaching its compressability limits... tires on pavement might provide LESS load and stress...

The CR on the turbo motor is 7.7:1, so 130-150 is probably a good range... my personal belief is that these figures might be greatly affected by the funtion of the hydraulic valve lash adjusters (aka HVLA or HLA); more later. Max boost that the engine will take depends. If the headgaskets have never been replaced, stock boost might do them in pretty soon. If new HGs, resurfaced heads and properly torqued head bolts, who knows for sure... 15 maybe 20 psi? With the 86, you have the earlier MAF and fuel management; I don't think that there was a fuel cut built in, or if so I think it is external to the ECU and defeatable. Fuel management is fairly primitive. The valves have hydraulic valve lash adjusters: Stationary rocker pivots that use hydraulic pressure to take up the slack. These tend to get stickyand not take up the slack properly, making mild to intense ticking noises. (One car I bought sounded like it was about to throw a rod, and 5 minutes later purred like a kitten.) Various people have various pet ways of quieting the noise, but it all seems to start with making sure the oil pump is sealed properly so that it isn't sucking air. The electric fan is controlled by a thermoswitch mounted on the radiator tank closest to the fan. These t-switches carry the full current of the fan and tend to have issues. The engine driven fan is used on A/C equipped cars.

IIRC, won't have "avatar" option until certain number of posts or becoming a donor.

You mentioned spark plugs, but how about spark wires? And were these spark plugs subjected to the fuel starvation that prompted you to to change the filters?

The ECM/ECU in an EA81 uses the O2 sensor's output to control a pair of external-to-the-carb- duty solenoids that effect the carb's mixture at idle and part throttle. The carb is set slightly rich, and the duty solenoids admit air into the emulsion tubes to lean out the mixture. You should be able to disconnect the ECU without any noticeable effect, and it will have no effect anyway if you go with a Weber. The ECU may also control the EGR system and the charcoal canister purge as it does in the EA82, but I haven't seen anything to confirm or deny that.

First thought is that the clutch is misadjusted, in that it is not releasing the clutch enough.

Perhaps Subaru is confused, thinking that you are talking about a capacitor/"condensor" that is used to quiet ignition RFI that would bother the radio.

(semi-hijack) It will probably get negliglible-to-worse mileage. The EGR system is optimized for pollution control, not efficiency. (end semi-hijack)

It's not gearing, it is traction; or, more precisely, maintaining traction. AFAIK, the gearing is identical, or nearly so.

SPFI, and non-XT: The green connectors should be in the engine compartment, near the windshield-wiper motor. As Miles stated, this should cycle the fuel pump and give you enough flow/pressure to at least idle.

From your description, it sounds like your ignition switch is the issue, making contact for the starter just at a certain point. Otherwise, their are lots of issues involving making sure the starter's cable conections are good, particularly the ground connections. These need to be clean and tight; don't assume they are, kjust go ahead and clean them. The starter is easy to remove, with 1 through-bolt and nut going through the engine flange and transmission bellhousing, and a stud and nut that attaches to the tranny bellhousing.

I assume that you really meant the "EGR light"...

The EGR system's function is to allow a certain amount of exhaust gasses to be inducted into the engine to reduce PEAK combustion temperatures, thus reducing the production of oxides of nitrogen (a product of thermally-efficient combustion). The exhaust gasses act as both a charge dilutant and an energy sponge (absorbs the combustion heat, much as water injection does). Generally, EGR only occurs during part-throttle operation, so should not effect idle quality nor full-throttle power. EGR is NOT needed for proper operation of the engine. With a feedback fuel system (carb or FI with O2 sensor) the engine will receive proper A/F mixture. An EGR valve that is stuck open (they are subject to carbon buildup) can cause gross problems with idle and off-idle running. EGR will effect emissions levels if they test for NOx, or if it is stuck open and causing idle issues. It can effect mileage and drivability; both were MAJOR issues when first introduced, with some cars using 20% EGR at part-throttle. As a side note, I have been toying with the idea of using the EGR valve to enhance part-throttle specific fuel consumption... it might be possible to use it to increase the effective compression ratio and thus the average combustion temperature, yielding better average thermal efficiency. Have to deal with the charge dilution (tougher ignition conditions and slower flame propogation), plus probably needs to be hotter when inducted to reduce heat absorbtion.

Is it really a leak or are you overfilling? The trannies listed capacity is if it were completely dry, with the torque converter drained. If the TC was not drained, it will accept only about half of reated capacity. Another thought is the various switches and vacuum modulator that screw into the tranny around the fluid level line; any of them missing or not tightened? Do you have your old tranny or did you turn it in/junk it?

Are you saying that it turned OK prior to tightening the crank pulley?

The implication is that if it had a distributor to change the cap and rotor on, than it is an EA82T and not a Legacy, and most parts are interchangeable with ther EA82 series. The distributor would have to be from an 87-or-so-and up EA82 for it to work. My guess is it should be something simple like not having the right cap and/or rotor and/or wires in wrong order.

10psi at hot idle is good. Check timing; you have to connect green diagnostic connectors to get it right, and lots of mechanics don't know to do this. Otherwise, fresh tuneup parts, especially spark plugs.

Anything jamming the valve train? As in, did a rocker fall loose and is jamming cam or sticking a valve way-open? Will the engine turn backwards at all? I would first eliminate the valve train as a problem before ripping into the internals.

Is this bog literally when you pull our of your driveway on startup? I have noticed with my SPFI that it has a momentary off-idle bog every morning, occurring within 1 minute of startup and pretty much first time I take it off idle (as in pullin out of my driveway into traffic). It goes completely flat for 1-2 seconds, then comes alive and behaves itself until the next start after sitting for a long time.